Knight Confuses Shot, Game Clocks on TV

For all his feistiness, it’s easy to forget that Bobby Knight is 72 years old. During the controversial ending of Thursday night’s Kentucky-Vanderbilt game, the Hall of Fame coach definitely showed his age.

After officials allowed a basket by the Wildcats’ Nerlens Noel with 17.3 seconds left to stand despite instant replay indicating that the ball didn’t leave Noel’s hands before the shot clock expired, Knight was caught in complete confusion by trying to differentiate the two clocks.

“That 17.3 was up there and the zero was on the bottom,” Knight said. “I don’t know what that meant.”

Play-by-play man Rece Davis politely explained that the zero was the shot clock and the 17.3 was the game clock. Knight seemed to regain his bearings as he and Davis finished calling the game.

Here’s hoping that this was merely a brain lock on Knight’s part and not the sign of something more serious, as the shot clock has been used in college basketball since 1985.